Dry Creek ebbs and flows from Sonoma to Maui to the movie stars in LA

February 2, 2012 - Carla Tracy

For the 12th consecutive year, Dry Creek Vineyard wines were poured at the Screen Actors Guild Awards® which were held on Sunday Jan. 29 and televised on TNT and TBS, according to a press release from the Screen Actors Guild, which went on to say that “Second-generation proprietor Kim Stare Wallace and her hospitality team were on hand to pour their wines for the entertainment industry’s elite.

“It was such an honor to have our wines selected for this momentous occasion,” says Kim. “People have come to recognize our wines at the event for their quality and complementary nature with food.”

I first met up with Kim’s dad, David Stare, on Maui at the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. In the early days of the festival, as the story goes, David sailed one of his tall ships over from Northern California and moored it off of Kapalua, a sight to behold. He also shot off a cannon for added flourish. Those were the days.

My husband and I also visited David’s Dry Creek winery and the “boys” got along so swimmingly they met up at a San Francisco 49ers game afterwards at Candlestick Park.

David founded Dry Creek Vineyard in 1972 in the heart of Sonoma County, just a short ride outside of the charming wine country town of Healdsburg. I remember David took us to a nightclub he owned there and he and I did a rollicking dance to “I Heard It From the Grapevine.” Deborah Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, was there, too, and it was quite the scene.

“As the region’s first new winery in the Dry Creek Valley following Prohibition, founder David Stare paved the way for a viticultural reawakening in this vibrant winegrowing region,” according to the Screen Actors Guild release.

“Among other industry firsts, Stare is recognized as being the first vintner to plant Sauvignon Blanc in the Dry Creek Valley. He was also responsible for the region’s AVA status in 1983 and was the first vintner to use the term Meritage on his wine labels with the 1985 vintage. Now celebrating 40 years of family winemaking, Dry Creek Vineyard has remained a successful family owned winery, with the second generation – Dave’s daughter Kim Stare Wallace, now running the family business.”

“Dry Creek Vineyard has proudly served their family’s wines to the who’s-who of filmmaking and television since 1999.”